Amart confirmed as final tenant in old Warrawong Bunnings site

Furniture store Amart will open in November at the redeveloped site on the corner of King Street and Northcliffe Drive in Warrawong.

Read more: 'A lot of grief and anger': Shell Cove mum's shock diagnosis after breaking leg twice

It will be the first Illawarra location for the discount furniture retailer that began in Queensland in the 1970s.

As the location prepares for opening in the next month, it is looking for staff, with those interested in a job encouraged to get in touch.

Amart joins seven other retailers and fast-food outlets on the site of the former Warrawong Bunnings.

In May, those confirmed tenants included Beacon Lighting, Supercheap Auto, Pillow Talk, JB Hi-Fi Home, bicycle store Trek, Autobarn and RTM - Road Tech Marine.

The stores will be the first RTM and Pillowtalk in the Illawarra, as more big box retailers move into scarce large-format commercial tenancies in the region.

The preference for large homewares stores was driven by purchasing trends during the COVID pandemic, as more homeowners spent up on household furnishings.

Construction of the retail stores was scheduled to be complete by October, with fit out to follow and stores to open before Christmas.

The opening of what has been dubbed the Bayview Centre will bring big box retailers closer to the centre of the Warrawong CBD, with retailers traditionally spread along King Street towards Primbee.

The retailers will join three fast food outlets, a Starbucks, Oporto and Hungry Jacks, as well as the existing McDonalds. A First Choice Liquor will also go in, in place of the Liquorland outlet.

Our news app has had a makeover, making it faster and giving you access to even more great content. Download The Illawarra Mercury news app in the Apple Store and Google Play.